Name/Title
John Street Police Station cell block keys 1965 - 2002Entry/Object ID
2312Description
A set of 9 keys on a large ring, comprising of 5 large mortice keys, three cylinder lock keys and one small mortice key. Attached is a small key label on which is written "Unknown Keys".Use
For use in a police cell block to open cells, security gates and other associated doors and locks.Context
Until John Street Police Station in Brighton opened in 1965, the main police cell block in the town was at the Town Hall where the Old Police Cells Museum is now located. The existing male cell corridor was used from 1871, replacing earlier basement cells, and the existing female cell corridor is thought to have been built c1898 - 1900, when the whole rear of the Town Hall was extended. These newer female cells replaced earlier ones that had been built in 1871 and ran along the front side of the basement.
Both sets of cells remained in limited for Magistrates Court prisoners after the police moved to John Street in 1965. This was because the court was still based in the Town Hall, and the new courts at Edward Street did not open until 1967. After this the cells in the town Hall were used for storage until the museum opened in 2005.
Brighton Police had long hoped for a new police station to replace the cramped facilities at the Town Hall and elsewhere in Brighton, and there were plans for such a building in the 1930s. The Town Hall cells had been condemned in a 1929 HM Inspector of Constabulary report and it was clear that new facilities were needed. However the war prevented this development and it was not until 1965 that an entirely newly designed building was completed in John Street, which is still in use today.
The custody facilities at the new police station, included 12 male cells, 4 female cells, photographic facilities, a charge room, a doctor's surgery, gaoler's rooms and interview rooms (Baines 1967 page 38). These cells remained in use until a new state of the art Brighton custody centre was opened at Hollingbury in 2002, as part of a wider project in Sussex Police to modernise its custody facilities.
Cell keys are traditionally large because not only do they open large locks but the size makes them easier to use. The large keys in this set would be for cells and to open barred gates and security doors. The smaller keys would be for any additional normal doors within the cell block that required locking. The larger keys on this particular set, almost certainly would have comprised one of the original 1965 sets and were probably in almost continuous use until 2002. They were transferred to the new custody centre along with other items during the relocation move and were kept in a drawer until donated to the museum in 2024.